North Sea helicopter crash victims named

FOUR oil workers killed in a helicopter crash on Friday night included the first woman to die in a North Sea disaster.

Volunteer RNLI members search for survivors after the helicopter crashed into the North Sea

Sarah Darnley, 45, was among the 16 oil rig workers and two crew travelling to Shetland when their French-built Super Puma L2 helicopter crashed into the sea just two miles from land.

The other three victims were yesterday named as Gary McCrossan, 59, from Inverness; Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham; and George Allison, 57, from Winchester, Hampshire. It is the fifth time in four-and-a-half years that a Super Puma has ditched in the North Sea. Union chiefs yesterday called for the entire fleet to be grounded.

Our worst nightmare came true at 11.30pm on Friday when a policeman came to tell us Sarah had been killed

Ms Darnley

Ms Darnley, of Elgin, who was single, worked as a catering company steward.

Her heartbroken mother Anne, 73, said yesterday: “We tried to get hold of her but could not get through. Our worst nightmare came true at 11.30pm on Friday when a policeman came to tell us Sarah had been killed.”